stay warm out there. fighter jets scramble on another flight scare gone bust. are we all freaking out unnecessarily? plus, politics, and the names they are changes. i'm shepard smith. the news starts now. >> shakeup for democrats. high profile senators and now calling it quits and they're not the ohm ones leaving. >> this decision allows me to make my family a priority. >> tonight what these developments say about the political landscape and democratic control in washington. plus, in the wake of the near disaster in detroit, a different kind of security screening. >> basically reads your body heat. >> tonight taking the

temperature on counterterrorism. first from fox, the departure of some democrats. in the last 24 hours, three high profile members of that party, two senators and a governor, have all confirmed they will not seek reelection. this potentially troubling news for the president's party, especially on the senate side, remember right now, democrats have a 60-40 so-called super majority in the senate. counting the two independents who caucus with them. that let's the democrats act without republican support if they can stick together should they need to. but with the recently announced retirements of the north dakota senator byron dorgan and the connecticut senator chris dodd, it means democrats will have to defend a total of four open seats in next year's election. lose just one and the super majority is gone. senator dodd knows well what's at stake for his party, but he's been having a tough time lately. his poll numbers have been falling in a big way and today he acknowledged he was in the toughest political shape of his entire career. >> let me be clear, i'm very

aware of my present political standing here at home in connecticut. but it is equally clear that any certain prediction about an election victory or defeat nearly a year from now would be absurd. >> still senator dodd is done and his retirement, along with those of other democrats, could mean some serious challenges ahead for the party in power. shannon is live in d.c what are the democrats saying about the potential here? >> reporter: you can imagine they don't want to put it in terms of losing their super majority. they're actually putting a positive spin on things today, including senator chuck schumer who sounds like they're admitting there is shoulder term, but he says it's positive in the longer term. >> we're a year away. does it say that times are tough right now for democrats? yes. but does that mean it will be tough in 2010? absolutely not. >> reporter: democrats are pointing to another silver lining and say, listen, when more vulnerable democrats step

aside, it gives us a chance to put stronger candidates in their position. >> it speaks loudly of the political environment in that town. >> first, people who are leaving capitol hill, whether retiring, running for other offices. in the senate, five democrats and six republicans who will be leaving on the house side, we're talking nine democrats and 14 republicans. so yes, a bigger block of republicans bowing out. we look at the races around the country and the polls, the movement is positive in the direction of republicans, of course. it's bad news for senate democrats if they lose even one vote. here is what one person said. >> i don't see how say anything but it's the end of the 60-vote majority for the democrats in the senate and that protection against republican votes. >> which, of course, is exactly what republicans are hoping for come november. >> then there is the colorado governor, bill ritter, who announced his retirement as well today. a lot of democratic insiders thought of him as a rising star in the party.

>> reporter: they absolutely did. many of them say this was a shocker, even people close to him are saying that. the governor's races are very important this year. they'll have a national impact because those who win will be responsible for now overseeing the congressional and legislative redistricting that will be in place for ten years. democrats have a lead in the governorships of 26-24. now they're scrambling to figure out who they will put in the race. they want to hold on to that one and others that will come up. >> shannon, thank you. >> we're preparing a report with background on what may have brought senator dodd to this point, including his controversial role in the housing crisis. the financial meltdown, and quite frankly, a questionable mortgage. we'll have that for you coming up inside fox report. first, investigators say he had a bomb in his pants. his underpants specifically and he tried to set it off on a northwest airlines flight over detroit. had he been successful, he could have killed almost 300 people on

that plane. we're told he succeeded only in burning himself. and now a grand jury has indicted him for that christmas day attack. he's charged now with six counts. he faces charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder, attempt to go destroy a plane, and placing a destructive device on an aircraft, along with two counts of possession of a firearm. the indictment does not specifically mention terrorism at all, but investigators say the suspect admitted that he trained with religious extremists in yemen and president obama has said he considers this an act of an affiliate of al-qaeda. meanwhile, we could soon learn a lot more about what the president describes as the systemic failures that allowed the alleged attack to occur. major garrett is live on the north lawn. tell us about that. >> reporter: tomorrow here at the white house, john brennan, who is the white house top advisor on counterterrorism and homeland security, really the president's principle point man, will present on unclassified

report and he, along with homeland security secretary janet napolitano, will brief reporters on camera about that report. before that, president obama will make a statement about the report itself and the changes he's going to make. not just with airline security, but intelligence gathering and sharing as well. >> major, the top republican on the house homeland security committee says somebody should lose his or her job over this. >> reporter: that's right. peter king told me earlier today, the president in his statement yesterday, which only ran nine minute, used the word fail or failure nine times. peter king told me that sets a standard that means somebody's head eventually has to roll. >> he is basically said that it's indefensible and it won't be tolerated and because, to me, the mistakes were so flagrant, it's not just -- it's a flag ant mistakes, i think the president will have to take severe action either one or two or three

people. >> they said not to expect resignations or firings tomorrow, but to stay tuned. >> and we will. at the same time, there is this brand-new report out that president obama has just ordered an increase of federal air marshalls by the end of this month. abc news reporting that as its lead on the east coast version of word news. that goes on to say that nearly all of the air marshals in service will be reassigned to international flights. we're told other federal agents trained as air marshals after the 9-11 will fill the void on domestic flights. we're getting new information tonight about just how many terror detainees are going from guantanamo bay back to the battlefield. that report just ahead. plus, the feds say he walked into a c.i.a. base in afghanistan and blew himself up. tonight we're getting brand-new information about the suspected double agent alleged to have pulled off that attack. we'll find out what his wife is saying and we'll see why this attack has triggered a search

all the way across the border in pakistan. that's coming up from the journalist of fox news. this is the fox report.

yemen today announced that it's captured three suspected al-qaeda terrorists. a sign, they tell us, that security forces are stepping up their fight against terror in that region. but yemen also insisted today this does not mean that it wants any help from the united states in the fight. yemen's foreign minister reports the country does not want any direct intervention from foreign troops because of the sensitivity of forces coming to yemen. keep in mind the u.s. military already has a presence in yemen, training its counter terrorism teams there. yemen reports that's fine and that it would welcome trainers to the region, but nothing more. the u.s. insisted and indicate that had it does not intend to send ground troops into yemen. disturbing reports tonight of a major jump in the number of detainees who return to terrorism once they're released

from that prison at guantanamo bay. sources are telling fox news that at least one in five terror suspects goes back to the battlefield. this news comes just one day after the white house announced it's suspending the transfer of gitmo detainees to yemen. this is apparently a big jump from a year ago. >> it is. the pentagon confirmed that 14% of the detainees released from guantanamo bay had gone back to the battlefield or were suspected of returning to the battlefield. so the figure of at least one out of every five is a jump of approximately 50% and that is only the cases that are well documented. >> this has been a problem for the bush and obama administration. >> well, it has. the bush administration released a number of detainees who returned to the fight, including the pivotal case of a kwaiti detainee released after four years in the prison at guantanamo bay. in march of 2008, he became a suicide bomber in iraq. there was a propaganda video that was released by al-qaeda.

you see his picture on the left. and the aftermath of the attack which killed 13 iraqi soldiers, wounded 32 and left a crater in the dirt. since then there have been other well documented cases, including the leadership of al-qaeda in yemen which claims flight 253. >> how did the white house respond? >> multiple sources say the report on recidivism or the rate of return to the battlefield, was finished some time ago, perhaps as early as november. but the administration they claim, did not make it public. in fact, they claim they were sitting on the data because it was more bad news at a time when closing the military prison is in doubt, but a senior administration official said tonight that this is not the case, they denied that they've been sitting on the report and they say the pentagon will be releasing it in the coming days. >> live in our washington news room this evening, thank you. many of the remaining terror suspects at gitmo are one step closer to coming to american soil, or at least inside american prisons. lawmakers in illinois today did vote to close the thompson

correctional center. it's 150 miles west of chicago. that leaves the door open for the u.s. government to buy the prison and send some gitmo detainees there. some say that would help boost the local economy. opponents argue it could make illinois a terror target. the decision still needs to go to the illinois governor. he says he's in favor of keeping the detainees. congress would have to decide whether to fund the prison. >> we're learning more about the suspected double agent behind that deadly attack on a c.i.a. base in afghanistan. we're getting our first look at the bomber and here is his picture. according to the associated press, this man's wife says her husband had considered the united states an adversary and reportedly said so in articles that he wrote for jihad web sites. the december 30th attack killed 7 c.i.a. operatives and a jordanian officer after the suspect was allowed inside the base unchecked. the media research institute

tells fox news that the attack may have been planned inside pakistan and officials there are now searching for a militant commander who may have played a role. the bodies of those seven c.i.a. agents and employees arrived at dover air force base in delaware today and a top military brass opened its new support center, the support center opened today for all those who lost loved ones serving overseas. the new center for families of the fallen offers counseling and other resources to soldiers' families. the vice president's wife, jill, on hand for today's dedication ceremony. the military report says the 18 year coverage on war dead was lifted. more families are travel to go dover and it needed the extra space. the ongoing debate over health care insurance reform and today the house speaker nancy pelosi said lawmakers are very close to settling the differences between the bills passed separately in the house

and senate. speaker pelosi and other democratic leaders met with the president at the white house today. the house and senate are working to merge their two bills. the white house says it would like to see the legislation on the president's desk before next month's state of the union address. >> fox news weather report now and a freezing temperatures cause ago big headache for nasa today. this morning dozens of workers moved the space shuttle endeavor 3 1/2 miles to its launch pad in florida. nasa worried about the transfer with temperatures in the 20s on the space coast and turned on the shuttle heaters earlier than usual. endeavor is scheduled to launch next month on the first of nasa's five final shuttle missions. take a look at this, orangutans in a zoo wrapping themselves up in burrlap. in south florida. temperatures hit the 40-degree mark last night. 20 degrees or so below normal. it's frigid weather for them and expected to hang around for large parts of the nation throughout the week. a lot of clothing companies

trying to get high profile people to model their products. some use celebrities, others performers, others athletes. this may be going too far. that's president obama modeling a coat on a billboard in times square. but no, he did not get permission. we'll find out what folks at the white house are having to say about this. plus, the radio show host rush limbaugh back on the air for the first time since a medical scare. we'll hear what he said about the moment the chest pains hit. that's coming up on fox.

kind of looks like something out of a catalog. this picture featuring the president wearing a weatherproof jacket is now a billboard in the heart of times square. it's become the center of a new controversy over the use of his image. photographers took that photo

during the president's trip to the great wall of china back in november and now the white house is saying, hang on a minute. rick leventhal is around the block from times square. give us the back story on this ad. >> reporter: a weatherproof executive said he saw the picture of the president in the paper and thought he recognized the jacket. so he got a high res copy of the photo and zoomed in on the zipper pull and sure enough, saw their logo. they took the shot, put it on billboard space that the company owned in times square. they did not have permission from the white house to use the president's image, but did get the okay from the photographer and the associated press. >> do you think in any way that diminishing the office of the presidency. >> i think it enhances it by virtue of the fact that comparing how our past presidents looked at the wall of china, compared to the way president obama looked on his recent trip there. >> they weren't wearing your jacket, but he is. >> they should have been, but he

is. that's correct. >> well, the white house is not allowing the use for commercial purposes and tonight we've learned the president's lawyers have called weatherproof and asked them to take down the billboard and the company's president told me earlier today, if asked, they will. >> we should send him a bill for that advertisement. there is also outrage over a peanut ad that has a picture of the first lady included. >> reporter: yeah. it's a poster called fur free and fabulous. it's been placed on peta's magazine and web site and metro subway stations in the dc areas and features tyra banks and others. and in a statement, peta says, we haven't asked the white house to fund or promote the campaign as they can't do such things, but the fact is that michelle obama has issued a statement indicating that she doesn't wear fur and the world should know that in peta's eyes, that makes her pretty fabulous. this thing happened before. former president bush was in a cold medicine commercial back in 1989. but it appears the obama

administration is showing up in more of these things. they called peta as well tonight. >> rick leventhal on a chilly night in new york city. thanks. el rushbo is back after last week's medical scare. during the first calm of minutes of the show today, rush limbaugh talked about the chest pain he suffered while on vacation in hawaii. >> my wife did not flash before me. i didn't think i was going to die, but i did think this was the big one. i didn't have what people think they're going to die, that everything in your life flashes before. i didn't have any of that. >> scary none the less. he later said doctors found not a thing wrong with his ticker. he spent two days in the hospital. limbaugh says right now, he's feeling fine. new details about a major breach of airport security and it turns out a crucial part of the system was not working at all. there have been dozens of scares at airports across the nation since that attempted christmas day attack. are things getting more

dangerous? are we just all in freakout mode? and a company says it's come up with a better full body scanner, one that solves a big problem that some people have with the machines. we will show you how it works. see if you can spot the hidden weapons. that's coming up.

the economy is causing problems not just for people, but also for many of their pets. some pet owners are either not caring for the pets properly or

abandoning them all together. not just dogs and cats in danger. animal care groups are saying they're finding many horses in bad health and now they're trying to find homes for them all because their lives depend on it. >> nothing wrong where w this. they just outlive the people sometimes. >> like a growing number of horses, these two face an uncertain future. they're cash strapped owner hired this ranch tore take them to the county animal shelter where they'll join 14 other new arrivals. >> either humane officers are seizing them because there is criminal neglect, abandonment. we have owners who tearfully are giving them up because they can't afford to keep them. >> reporter: across the nation, the downed economy caused an increase in the number of orphaned horses. each has a heart breaking story. this was found running loose on new year's eve. these two were found starving and close to death in a road side pasture. thanks to a call from a passing driver. animal protection officers say it's the horses that aren't here

that may be at greatest risk. >> we are dealing with people that own way more horses than they can take care of. a woman has 50 horses she captain take care of. someone else has 35. yes, we are really concerned about the ones that aren't reported to us or don't discover. >> reporter: luckily they discovered 20-year-old mocha in time. infested with ticks and severely emaciated. now on the mend, mocha will be key evidence in the pending animal neglect case against his owner. while pursuing criminal investigations, the spca is looking for homes for these animals. otherwise they'll have to be put down. and while he admits keeping a horse is more expensive than a dog or cat, miller says it doesn't take much to keep them happy. >> just needs a comb and a brush every now and then. a little attention. that's all they really want. just like all of us. just some attention. >> reporter: in california, claudia cowan, fox news. >> i'm also told several ducks that hang out at wolf lake park in florida are in danger a.

woman found them with darts all over their bodies. look at this. she says the small spikes looked to be from blow guns and as you can see, many of the ducks were hit in the neck and another near its foot. no telling how much pain the birds were feeling 'cause we don't really know how to quantify such a thing. but workers from a wild life center tried to catch and treat the injured guys. no word yet on any arrests. i'm shepard smith. this is fox report hd. it's the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news and lawmakers in new jersey are demanding security upgrades at one of the busiest airports in the nation. a security breach created chaos for thousands of travelers. officers had to evacuate the entire terminal, keeping incoming planes on the tarmac after somebody bypassed security and walked right through an exit door. we now know the security camera at that checkpoint, you could see it as it happened live, but there was no recording. there are reports now that the

officer on duty was chatting on a cell phone and not paying any attention at all. clearly this is a jittery time for airline security in the 12 days after a nigerian man tried to blow up a plane over detroit, there have been reports all over the nation. the latest one today, a hawaiian airlines flight from oregon to hawaii it had to return to portland due to what's being described as a disturbance on board. a man was acting up on the plane, holding a duffle bag and giving the stewardesses a note to give to the pilot. the airline says it was a routine type of disturbance. the man apparently with mental issues. the plane took off again a short while later. obviously the timing of this incident raised some concerns. fox coverage, phil katying with information about a new type of security screening process.

are we a little too wigged out lately? >> everyone is on high alert. the week following christmas has been an especially busy one for the tsa. according to the tsa, between december 27 and january 3, 28 passengers were arrested after investigations of suspicious behavior or fraudulent travel documents. airport checkpoints discovered 12 firearms and what the tsa describes as four artfully concealed prohibited items. during that week, tsa reports 24 incidents requiring a checkpoint closure terminal evacuation, or some sort of breach of security in a sterile area. now, that apparent breach of security at newark liberty international airport you were talking about has led the tsa to place that officer who was watching the exit on administrative leave. meanwhile, new jersey lawmakers are calling for upgrades to those airport cameras that apparently weren't recording anything and also calling for better training and

accountability for security personnel. listen to senator robert menendez. >> recent incidents here and in detroit underscore the need for us to be ten steps ahead of terrorists. not one step behind. >> reporter: of course, with increased vigilance, you will hear stories of false alarms. one scare in bakersfield, california when a bag tested positive for explosives. tsa personnel opened the bag and found some jars containing amber colored liquid. the smell from the jars reportedly made two of the officers feel nauseated. it turned out that these were merely jars of honey and while some may find this humorous, in retrospect, it's a clear indication of the heightened sense of vigilance and alertness that many of us are feeling in the wake of that attempted bomb not guilty detroit. shep. >> live in atlanta, thanks. ever since that attack over detroit, or attempted, a number of countries, including canada and great britain, have

announced plans to begin using full body scanners in all of their airports. these scanners can detect bombs through clothing, but that's not all they detect. currently across the united states, there are a few dozen of these scanners and most are used mainly as secondary searches after you've been identified as somebody who needs a little more. civil liberties groups raided privacy concerns about these scanners, which allow security officers to see passengers naked bodies. now a company in florida is reporting it's developed a similar scanner, but this uses thermal images, which display bombs without the hidden body parts. hey, phil. >> hi. this is it. you've got an infrared sensory camera connect to do a small laptop which is equipped with unique software and then it all comes down to body heat and on a very cold night like this in tampa, it all comes down to conserving your body heat. but this system can actually detect whether under your clothing you're concealing

something more than just your body. one of these people is wearing a nonlethal explosive vest. similar to the kind worn by suicide bombers. using thermal sensory technology, it quickly becomes clear with a distinct black shape, which person that is. >> anything that blocks the body's natural heat energy shows up in black on the screen. >> reporter: bill of tampa bay thermal matrix spent years devising this system. he says it can detect deadly weapons on a person without invading their privacy. that's been the criticism of wave body scanners. the tsa says 40 of those are in place with 150 more coming this year. we tested mock versions of them and you can see a four by four-inch block. we tested a small bottle of gel and that, too, showed up in a distinctive black shape. in light of the christmas day terrorist attack, one of the al-qaeda suspect had explosive

powder hidden in his underpants, we tested a small bag of harmless powder hidden in our subject's crotch. it, too, showed up, blocking body heat. >> the nice thing is, we don't image any anatomical features. there are no privacy concerns 'cause we're not looking at the human body or the skin. we're looking at the temperature of their clothes. >> reporter: the department of homeland security does confirm with me that it is very interested in thermal detection software equipment in order to make airports and the rest of the country more safe. but it won't give details whether this particular system may end up in an airport screening process near you any time soon. but this does also have, according to the company, great uses for managing and monitoring large or security sensitive crowds and for that reason alone, one tampa bay area sheriff's department just bought two of these. >> phil keating live in tampa. tax time is coming.

it always does. big changes in store for the companies that millions of americans rely on to prepare their taxes. so what impact will these brand-new rules have on you? the details are straight away. plus, he struck it rich with a $30 million lottery jackpot. but what happened to him? police tell us they fear somebody murdered him and they announced today on studio b they have a person of interest. that is coming up on fox report.

the feds say antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed drugs in america. but there is a brand-new study that finds for the majority of patients, those drugs are no better than a placebo. a majority, as in seven out of ten patients. the study getting a lot of attention because 15 million american adults are on antidepressants and sales of the drugs have doubled in the past decade to about $10 billion worth in 2008.

the jonathan hunt is with us now. this study sounds like doctors might be overprescribing here. >> reporter: that's the very clear message from this study. it's a concern many in the medical community had for quite some time. among them our own doctor who says this study send has message that any doctor who prescribes antidepressants should stop and think before doing so. listen. >> this is a wake-up call to psychiatrists to say, we need to be doing more than prescribing medication or we need to not prescribe it and get people to psycho therapy they need. >> and the doctor also says the patient should think, too, whether just talking to a therapist or having basic changes in their lifestyle might work better than the drug. >> i don't want to mislead anybody, 'cause this doesn't say the drugs don't work. >> absolutely not. in fact, the study says very clearly that in the most severe cases, the drugs have a significant effect. the researchers used a sliding scale to measure the severity of depression in each case.

24 and above meant they were severely depressed and in those cases, the drugs were very effective. those who scored 23 or lower, moderate to borderline severe depression, that's where the drugs weren't very effective at all. so they do work, the research says, but only in the most severe cases. >> sounds like the drug companies are in for a loss in money here. >> you take a look at the figures. $10 billion a year this industry is worth to the drug companies. if in 70% of cases those drugs should not be prescribed, they stand to lose $7 billion a year. so clearly, you would imagine the drug companies are going to fight this. according to the doctor, this is a very well grounded study and it will be very hard for them to dispute the findings. >> jonathan hunt, thank you, sir. some breaking news coming into the fox news room. a live look now. the school is on lock down in california as of just about 30 minutes ago. a student has been arrested as it turns out. they found a couple of weapons there.

the school district contacted local canine company to do a random search and ended up taking police to a gun in a student's backpack. they detained an 11th grade student and then the they found another hand gun on this guy's body. police are searching all the classrooms, students are locked in there. they're asking parents to be patient. hall hambra, california. more on this as it comes in to fox news. 2009, the year is over. but 2009 the tax season is just getting started. soon folks all across the country will visit their tax preparer's offices or do so on-line, bringing folders full of statements and receipts. but the customers won't be the only one stopping by. the accountants will hear from uncle sam. the irs is planning and for the first time, to test and screen those who might be preparing your taxes. molly henneberg is live in the dc news room. how is that going to work? >> reporter: hi, shep. the new regulations begin taking effect next year.

they'll be phased in over time. tax preparers will have to register with the irs, reregister every three years, and pay a user fee for registering each time. they'll have to pass a competency test and take continuing education courses. it will make sure consumers, quote, don't get bad advice from their tax preparer. >> what brought this about? anything specific? how are these tax preparation companies reacting to this? >> reporter: the irs says it's trying to reduce fraud and errors. some taxpayer advocates say the regulations may not be all that effective, but others in the april 15 business say it's a start to weed out the unethical, untrained tax preparers. listen to this. >> currently there is no minimum standards of knowledge experience that are required prior to you hanging up a shingle and preparing taxes. >> when you have a moving target such as the tax law, testing people on their knowledge of it

is going to be very, very difficult. >> reporter: he says the user fees imposed on the tax preparers likely will be passed on to the client. >> molly henneberg live in washington tonight. thank you. a guy from florida won a $30 million jackpot a few years ago. took a lump sum payment, $17 million. and then he disappeared. investigators say today they believe he was murdered. his name is abraham shakespeare. evanished in april and the person of interest announced today on studio b, his financial advisor. she told a local newspaper she helped shakespeare disappear because he was just sick of everybody begging him for cash after he won the big jackpot and conveniently shot a video that she says proves it. >> where do you want to go to? >> it don't matter to me. i'm not a picky person. >> california?

or you want a foreign country? cozumel? >> well, how do you like -- are you going to miss your home? >> life goes on. >> are you going to miss your home turns out she's living in his home and has all of his money. but the sheriff in the area says everything shakespeare owned ended up with her. everything. including his cell phone, which the sheriff told me today on studio b, she used to call shakespeare's mother on mother's day pretending to be him. >> the thing that was most disturbing to me was she offered a several hundred thousands house to at least one other person to file, if they would in turn file false reports to us of sightings of abraham. >> they're fearing and expecting the worse in this case and investigators are calling it a

homicide. a powerful democrat has given up his senate seat. we'll look at the reaction behind senator chris dodd's decision to retire and who is in the running to replace him? balance of power issues and they're coming up. uuuuuuuuuuuuuu

u.s. senator chris dodd said today, there are moments for each elected public servant to step aside and let somebody else step up. he said this is his home to step aside. he will not run for reelection. as you probably know, senator dodd served in congress for a long time, since 1975. right now he chairs the senate banking committee and played a major role in the recent health care overhaul fight. back in 04, he won reelection with about 66% of the vote, two-thirds. but his poll numbers have dropped a lot after some recent

controversies. and republicans were said to view his seat as one of the more vulnerable targets in the next election. our senior correspondent has been tracking developments on this story. he's live in connecticut where the senator lives. the controversies have really hurt him. >> reporter: they really did. they were personal financial ones. voters here angry that he had two mortgages from countrywide financial. remember them? he claimed he didn't do anything wrong. also he was responsible for an amendment that helped get those aig executives those big million dollars bonuses. there were problems that he briefly alluded to today. >> there have been times when my positions and actions have caused some of you to question that confidence. i regret that. but it's equally important that you know that i have never waiverred in my determination to do the best job for our state and our nation. >> reporter: ironically, because he's chairman of the senate banking committee, that may have hurt him because of the financial crisis. >> senator dodd also really made

fun of other politicians who were quitting. >> reporter: yeah, he did. kind of strange. he said he thought it was pathetic when politicians stood up and said they were leaving for the sake of their families and. he has two young children. he had a kind of a crisis this summer. not only did his good friend, senator kennedy pass away, but so did his sister and he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, also possibly part of his decision to step aside. >> tell us about challengers for that seat. >> reporter: took only 2 1/2 hours. richard blumenthal, the popular attorney general of connecticut announced he will run. he is a democrat, likely the front runner. for the republicans, among those running, rob simmons, a former congressman who was leading dodd in the polls and linda mcmahon, the wife of vince mcmahon, the founders of wwe. she has promised to spend $30 million on this race. so certainly it will be quite a season here in connecticut this year. >> i'll say.

thanks very much. live for us in connecticut. federal inspectors say they found cockroaches and a dangerous bacteria at the pace where one company prepares food for major airlines. our top story on the fox trip across america. # colorado. inspectors at the lsg sky chef facility, denver international airport, say they found too many live and dead roaches to count. they also say workers were handling food with their bare hands. lsg sky chefs have kitchens in 43 major cities and serve delta, american and united. sky chef says it's cleaned up its act and fired some managers. missouri. a woman at a mcdonald's in kansas city throws a fit after getting what she said was a bad burger. workers say they offered her another one. but the woman apparently wanted her money back. that's when things started flying. a bucket of water, straws, a sign, and three cash registers. a witness called the cops.

by the time they arrived, the woman had high tailed it out of the place. arizona. a surprise for a thief trying to steal a pick up truck and part of it was caught on tape. the teenage driver jumped into the vehicle's bed to try to stop the robber. you can see the guy zoom through an intersection, nearly hitting other vehicles. the thief eventually forced the teen out at gun point. he's okay. they found the truck later stripped for parts. that's a fox watch across america. a lot of our viewers have gone to our web site wondering where are all the bear alerts? it's been a while since we had one around here. we'll fix that next.

top stories coming up. first, a bear alert. we're all pretty brave when our bears are stuck in the cube. you might be a little more frightening if we came face-to-face with one. like this, for instance. >> he's pretty scary and big. >> he's on the other side of a

glass door. >> he's going to break in. >> hopefully not. that six-year-old is checking out a visiting bear. >> i think that's alarming to have a child like that that you have a bear in its backyard. >> but police say it's a relatively regular occurrence here in california, a city outside los angeles, nestled in the foot hills of the san gabriel mountains. bears have been visiting this area for years. >> they were climbing the tree and they were playing on the ground to get the avocado seeds. they play like kittens or puppies. >> perhaps giant killer puppies. either way, the latest visitor was definitely too close for comfort. >> this is where he came up to the door and he patted the door. >> and he was apparently interested in a snack. >> we had a lot of grapes and the bears -- it was hot and they were thirsty and coming for fruit. >> there is obviously only one way to get rid of unwanted bears. but lacking a trampoline, they

found another way to get rid of their visitor. (horn blows) j yep, that will do it. >> a grand jury today indicted this man, the suspect in the christmas day bombing. charges include attempted murder and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. and on this date in 1973, saturday mornings got a whole lot smarter when the animated series, school house rock first debuted. as the story goes, school house rock's creator had a son who had a hard time remembering his multiplication tables. he apparently didn't have any trouble remembering the lyrics of rock songs and a show was born. but the short cartoons didn't just touch on math. there was also gramar rock, conjunction junction, once your function and civics, how a bill becomes a law on capitol hill. each lesson set to a catchy tune. these days the series lives on in dcd. for kids it looks dated. but cartoons started rocking 37 years ago today.